Next 2 expansion phases to 20 teams - Perth, Central Coast, SEQLD & Wellington.
I think we need to seriously consider the possibility that the comp won't expand beyond 18 teams for many many years. We all know that News (our major media buyer) really wanted a 12 team comp and that they compromised on 14 to end the war. Yes, the networks want more games involving Queensland teams and content to attract better ratings in the New Zealand and Perth markets. But that doesn't mean they want an ever larger comp and the flab that brings. Quantity does not necessarily equal quality.
We already have a minority calling for no expansion beyond 16 and that view is sure to grow considerably once we're at 18. Our own CEO has stated that as a comp we should be aspiring to the NFL model but, with a population base under 30 million, every additional mouth to feed is taking us in the wrong direction for achieving anything like that. Given that, I just can't see a 20 team comp being on the agenda any time soon (ie. within 20 years). I think it's much more likely we'll reach the other markets you name in the meantime through a redistribution of existing licenses.
Another way to think about it is that once we expand to 18 teams we'll need a number of years to absorb the impact of a two team expansion and then more years on top of that if we're to prepare properly for a further two team expansion. But we probably can't wait that long to get into these other markets which means we'd need to go through some sort of re-allocation of existing licenses anyway. And if we've already managed to satisfy our need to get into these markets before expanding further, what's the point in rushing to 20 teams?
As current:
Keep Friday Night Double Headers on F2A
Saturday Triple Headers on Subscription (but change to 4:35pm, 6:25pm & 8:05pm)
Sunday Afternoon Double Header on F2A
Monday Night on Subscription
with Friday & Sunday F2A targeting QLD & Sydney with at least 1 team from each featured.
As we've discussed on many occasions the push to introduce fixed scheduling is a huge factor in how we allocate matches. If we want to have Friday night and Sunday afternoon doubleheaders as our showpiece free to air matches then we need to ensure there is a choice of matches allocated to each slot so that we're not left showing turkeys simply because the schedule was fixed nine months earlier. The second consideration is that with the drive for improved free to air coverage in Melbourne and Perth, the networks are going to want to show games into those markets involving the home team to help prop up the ratings. Given these two factors I'm led to the conclusion we need to schedule three matches in each of these two slots. This would leave us with...
FRIDAY 7.15pm (local) - 3 Games
- 1 NSW derby
- 1 game involving a Queensland team (inc. half of Qld derbys)
- 1 game involving WA (18 out of 26 weeks - half of Reds home games and all Reds away games)
SATURDAY 7.15pm and 5.15pm/9.15pm (EST) - 2 Games
- 1 game involving a NSW team
- 1 game involving a Queensland team
SUNDAY 2.15pm (EST) - 3 Games
- 1 NSW derby
- 1 game involving a Queensland team (inc. half of Qld derbys)
- 1 game involving Storm (18 out of 26 weeks - 10 Storm home games and 8 away games)
MONDAY 7.15pm (EST), 6.15pm (WST for Reds), 8.15pm (NZT for Warriors) - 1 Game
- 1 home game per team (18 game package for season)
Games 9 & 10 would float betwen:
Friday 7:30pm NZ Home Game on Subscription at 5:30pm EST (rare but after Super 15 ends)
Saturday 3:00pm EST on Subscription (also rare event)
Saturday 8:05pm EST viewers choice game on subscription (most weeks)
Sunday 12:00pm EST NZ Home Game on Subscription (most weeks)
Sunday 6:30pm/7:00pm/7:30pm Night Game - Subscription or F2A depending on game (to begin with only when Monday is public holiday or school holidays)
Monday 3:30pm - when public holidays - on F2A
Thursday 7:30pm - when public holidays - on F2A
Given what I've outlined above, when there is an extra timeslot for a public holiday or other special occasion, the extra game would come out of the Friday night allocation.
Leigh
